Climate change has dramatically altered the face of the Himalayas. Ghulam Mohammad Malikyar, deputy director-general of the National Environmental Protection Agency of Afghanistan, warned that his country has already lost 72 per cent of its forest cover.
“The reasons are complex. We are a land-locked country with a low forest cover. But already we have lost 72 per cent of our forest cover and the challenge before us is how to restore it,” said Mr Malikyar, talking exclusively to this newspaper. “The situation has become worse because glaciers, our main source of water supply, are melting. Our northern peaks were covered by glaciers but last year, for the first time in 2011, the snow over these peaks melted completely,” he said.
“If this trend continues, our rivers will all run dry. We have seen 30 years of conflict but glacial melt is not related to warfare,” said Mr Malikyar.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)’s new boss, Dr David Molden, also expressed apprehension at the rapid rate of glacial melt. “The Himalayas have 54,000 glaciers but there is a dearth of data on these glaciers. Glaciologists are currently conducting long-term balance studies and doing remote sensing and modelling which should throw up results within the next five years,” said Dr Molden.
“This will help inform us on the kind of changes to expect in the water supply patterns in the coming years because most of the major rivers of Asia have their origins here,” he said.
The Nepal-based Dr Molden warned that rapidly melting ice could result in high-altitude floods.
“If glacial lakes rupture their banks then they can destroy infrastructure and agriculture. Nepal alone has more than 1,600 glacial lakes,” said Dr Molden.
“Climate change will also adversely impact livelihoods of people living in these mountainous regions who, as a recent study has shown, are poorer than their counterparts living in the plains. This forces the men to migrate leaving the women behind to do the hard work,” Dr Molden added.